Order indicator



-1 1953 c. D. PAINTER 2,847,971

- ORDER INDICATOR Filed Nov. 26,- 1956 i H /6/7 I m k 2/ KCIIEDDM 4 F/g Hg 2 INV EN TOR.

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United States Patent ORDER INDICATOR Claude D. Painter, San Francisco, Calif. Application November 26, 1956, Serial No. 624,250 1 Claim. (Cl. 116-133) This invention relates to improvements in order indicators and has particular reference to an indicator for the use in conjunction with milk bottles so that the driver of a milk truck or wagon can ascertain from his vehicle the quantity and products desired at a given address, thus saving time and extra steps during the hours of delivery.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an indicator which may be inserted into the top of a bottle and one which is economical to manufacture.

A further object is to produce an indicator wherein a considerable number of commodities may be indicated by means of movable tabs which will convey to the drivers mind the number of units of any articles desired, thus permitting him to bring the order to the door with no unnecessary delay.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numbers are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my invention as applied to the top of the standard milk bottle;

Fig. 2 is a plan "iew of the blank from which the various portions of the device are cut;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In many regions both in cities and in suburban areas milk is delivered house to house by a delivery man who also has other commodities to sell, as for instance butter, eggs, cream, buttermilk, etc. It has been customary for a customer to leave a note in the neck of an empty milk bottle, said note setting forth the commodities desired. The driver must pick up the note, read it, and return to his truck in order to secure the articles to fill the order. This is time consuming.

Applicant has therefore designed an indicator which may be placed in the neck of an empty milk bottle and through the medium of letters and numerals placed on movable tabs and visible at a considerable distance he can indicate the commodities desired. Thus is eliminated the necessity of returning to the truck or wagon after reading the note and but one trip is necessary to and from a given house.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a milk bottle into which my device is to be positioned. My device consists of a downwardly extending supporting member 6 which has attached thereto side flaps as shown at 7 and 8, which are adapted to contact the inside of the neck of a bottle, thus holding the device in position and also preventing it from being blown therefrom should there be a Wind in the vicinity.

The upper portion of the support has a flared end 9 to which are attached a plurality of semi-circular indiciacarrying segments 11, 12 and 13. A pivot 14 serves to rotatably secure segments to the support 6. This pivot 14 also serves to rotatably support a series of tabs as shown at 16, 17, 18 and 19.

On the segments 11, 12 and 13 are printed large letters as best illustrated at A in Fig. 1. On the tabs 16 to 18 are imprinted numerals and on one of the tabs a signal disc 21.

The result of this construction is that when the device is assembled as shown in Fig. 1, and inserted in the neck of an empty bottle, the flaps 7 and 8 serve to hold the same in the bottle and the user can then rotate one of the segments so that it is uppermost. Then by moving one of the tabs opposite each of the letters, or exposing the tab 19 so that the signal disc 21 is visible, then the driver can determine from a considerable distance away that the customer wishes, for instance, two dozen large eggs or one pound of butter.

If the signal disc 21 is visible it would indicate that the customer wishes to talk with the driver.

It is thus apparent that by arranging the segments and tabs as desired, almost any information may be visibly transmitted over a considerable distance.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

An order indicator for placement in the neck of a milk bottle comprising an elongated supporting leg having a flared end, side flaps on the longitudinal edges of said leg extending therefrom at obtuse angles, a plurality of semi-circular indicia segments pivoted to one side of the flared end of the supporting leg and a plurality of elongated number bearing tabs pivotally mounted on the pivot for the indicia segments at the opposite side of the flared end of the supporting leg and normally occupying a position between the side flaps on the supporting leg, the number bearing tabs being selectively shiftable to present to view the number on the free swinging end thereof in association with selected indicia on an indicia segment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,771,854 Cronenwett Mar. 27, 1956 

